Friday’s Winter Olympics action from Italy will include the final of the men’s halfpipe. Among the snowboarding stars taking part is Australian star Scotty James, who is pursuing a third Olympic medal. James won bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018 and silver in Beijing in 2022. He qualified best for the final as he looks to go one better in Milan-Cortina, where reigning champion Ayumu Hirano of Japan is chasing back-to-back golds.
It’s not just on the snow where James has hit headlines. The Winter Olympics has a number of stars with rich and famous partners, not least Jake Paul’s fiancee and Dutch speed skating gold medalist Jutta Leerdam. James is part of an even more decorated family, though, thanks to his wife Chloe Stroll. Chloe is the sister of Formula 1 star Lance, who drives for the Aston Martin team part owned by the siblings’ billionaire father Lawrence.
It was actually Lance Stroll who introduced Chloe and Scotty. “Lance actually called me and said, ‘I think I just found the guy you’re going to marry’,” Chloe told the Herald Sun in 2020.
“It was kind of strange. I had a conference in Park City (Utah), which was where his next competition was the same weekend and a lot of random things happened.
Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings
“Scotty was very cute. We dated for about four months, or as he likes to say, we got to know each other, before he officially asked me to be his girlfriend.”
The couple got engaged in 2021 and married in Venice, Italy, two years later with Australian F1 star Daniel Ricciardo one of the groomsmen. Scotty and Chloe welcomed their first child, son Leo, in 2024.
James’ strong showing in qualifying means he will be the last to run in the halfpipe final. He scored 94.00 in his first run and none of his rivals were able to match the 31-year-old.
“I wanted to come out and put my best foot forward to try and qualify first,” said James, who is competing in his fifth Winter Olympics after making his debut aged 15 back in 2010. “I feel like being in that position in the final is a really good place to be – you can be a little bit more mindful and strategic in the approach when it comes to the competition on Friday.
“I pushed it a little bit more in qualies than I usually would with the Switchback 14 and I was really happy to execute it. It’s going to be an exciting final.”
James is a multiple World Championships and X Games winner. However, he’s still chasing that first Olympic gold.
Source link
